Metallic grating for bottle crates



A ril 20 1926. 1,581,642

w. c. KRAUSE METALLIC GRATING FOR BOTTLE CRATES I Filed Jan..2. 1925 2Sheets-Sheet l V V V m'd VNAUWWVWVUU V I: a I:

M l W/iam Ckrazzsa April 20 1926.

w. c, kRAusE METALLIC GRATING FOR BOTTLE CRATES Filed Jan. 2,. 1925 2Sheets-Sheet 2 I/W/zazzz Patented pr. 231i 192%.

barren stares series.

WILLIAM C. IZRAUSE, OF MIL'WAUKEE, VIISCON'SIN.

ivinrantrc ena rruenon no'rrnis snares.

Application filed January 2, 1925. Serial No. 158.

To all whom it may concern. in place of edgewise, as previously stated,

B it known that l", NILLIAM C. KnAUsn, the edgewise positioning of themale mema citizen of the United States, and resident hers being for thepurpose or economizing t lllilwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee cratingspace.

and State of Wisconsin, have invented cer- With the above objects inview, the in tain new and useful Improvements in Metalvention consistsin certain peculiarities of h G ti f Bottle Crates; and I doCOl'lStl'llCtlOIl' and combination of parts, as so h b declare that thefollowing is a full, will be fully set forth with reference to theclear, and exact description thereof. accompanying drawings andsubsequently My invention refers to metallic gratings, claimed.

which are particularly adapted for use in. in the drawings connectionwith bottle crates. Figure 1 is a fragmentary plan view, o

Primarily, the object of the invention is partly in section, of a crateequipped with to provide a metallic grating which is a grating embodyingthe preferred form of f d f parallel male and female inmy invention, themale and female members termeshed flat bars forming squares orskeleinthis enemplilicatio n of the invention beton pockets for bottles,or like containers. ingpositioned edgewise to economize space to Thespecilic object of my invention is to w thin the crate, whereby agreater number provide a crate having side and end walls ot cells isobtained in a given area.

with sets of thin metallic strips intern'leshed Figure :4 is a crosssection of the same, the and locked at the corners of each comparesection being indicated by line 2-2 of Figment by the intermeshedengagement, in ure 1. such manner as to firmly hold the inter Figure 3is a detail longitudinal section, meshed strips against movement in alldirecthe same being indicated by line 3 '3 of tions to maintainuniformly spaced cavities Figure 1.

whereby bottles can easily be inserted. By Figure 4 is a detail crosssection of the this arrangement, thin strips can be used grating, asindicated on line 4ll 01" Figure so tor forming the pockets, whereby agreat 3, the male bar being shown in its initial saving in crating spaceis obtained, while. at lat position priorto its rotation to the verthesame time rigidity of the box is insured, tlcal or edgcwise position.

due to the rigid, interlocked connection at Figure 5 is a tli'ragmentaryplan view,

the corners of the intersecting or interpartly in section, of anotherform of my inas h d b vention, wherein the male members are norlt iscommon practice in constructing botmally positioned llatwisc withrelation to .tle crates to utilize wires of one form or anthe femalemembers.

other for developing the skeleton pockets, l igure 6 is a section of thesame, the sec and in such instances it is necessary to utiltic-nbeingindicated by line 6-6 of Figure 9 ize wires of suilicieut crosssection dirn'neter lfi igurc '7 is another detailed sectional to insurethe proper amount of rigidity. view, the section being indicated bythe40 In doing so the wires are of such thickness line 7 7 oi Figure 5, andi as to materially reduce the capacity of. the l igure 8 is afragmentary cross sectional crate. /Vith my present invention thegaugeview of one of the interlocked bar joints, 95 of the thin metallicstrips is reduced to a the male bar being shownin its initialposiminimum, whereby in actual practice an extiou prior to being twistedor turned downgm r w f containers can b dd d t it wardly to its flatnormalposition.

crate of the standard pint size, due to the lileterring by characters tothe drawings,

economy in space, it being borne in mind A represents one. of the sidewalls 01": a crate, 1

that the thin metal strips, preferably posi and B the end. wall thereof,it being undertioned edgewise of the crate, will accomplish stood thatin referring to the side and end the desired saving. walls in theclaims, this identification ma It is understood, however, that incertain be construed to mean either wall. The

instances, my improved grating can be built body of the crate forms nopart of my inven- 1 up with the male strips positioned flatwise tion andis built up in the usual manner.

The side walls A have permanently secured thereto a series of thin fiatfemale bars 1 in parallel arrangement and equally spaced from each otherand from the end walls. This series of bars are formed with a series ofalined T-shaped slots 2, the stem slot 2 being positioned vertically andmidway between the cross-slot portion of the teeth. The stem slot isapproximately the same depth as the cross slotbranches, as shown. Ineach crate there are two or more series of the female bars arranged intiers, as best shown in Figure 2 of the drawings.

The grating. is completed by a parallel series of thin flat male bars 3,which male bars, in this exemplification of my invention, have theirends slightly tapered, as shown in Figure 3 ofthe drawings, and saidbars are also formed with a series of notches l equally spaced apart forinterlocking engagement with the T-shaped slots of the female bars.

Tn assembling the male bars, each one of the series is initiallypositioned flatwise, as shown in Figure l of the drawings, and the baris then threaded through the entire series of slots in the female bars,the notches being positioned in alinement with the 'T-shaped slots. Themale bars are then twisted or rotated downwardly, as indicated by thearrow in Figure l of the drawings, and their notches 4 will thus permitthe bar to rotate past the metal angle of the T-shaped slot, wherebysaid bar will assume a vertical or edgewise position, and in assumingsuch position, it will be locked with relation to the T-shaped slot ofeach of the female bars.

, The end wall sections of the crate are provided with sockets b, asshown in Figures 1 and 3 of the drawings, and said end walls are alsoprovided with rails 0 extending across the inner surface of the wallsjust below the sockets. The end walls are now slipped in positionbetween the side walls A. and in'this operation the ends of the male barmembers are caused to enter the slots 12.

As shown in Figure 3 of the drawings, the lower edges of the male bars3, when forced in position, are engaged by the rails c and said bars arethus slightly lifted, whereby their upper edges will engage the top'wallof the T-sha-ped slot. walls B of the crate are then suitably secured bycorner irons to the side walls A, whereby the two series of thinmetallic bars form a. plurality of rectangular cells or pockets forbottles, or other articles for which the crate is intended. The bottles,or other articles, carried in the skeleton pockets, rest and aresupported by a series of bars in the form of heavy wires C, one of whichextends centrally with relation to each row of pockets, and the ends ofthese The end bars C are secured in the ordinary manner to the endpanels of the crate.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that after the crate hasbeen completed, the two series of bars will be firmly held in a verticalor edgewise position and that the interlocking notches and slots willthereby rigidly secure the male and female bars at their intersectingpoints, which form the corners of each cell, and it is manifest thatowing to the fact that these bars are held against movement in alldirections at short intervals, the bars used can be of minimum strength,which will at the same time be suiiicient to resist strains, due to thereinforcement at frequent intervals, which reinforcements are of rigidconstruction at the corner of each cell. Hence, fiexure of the bars,when subjected to the strain, is resisted.

Referring now to Figures 5 to 8 of the drawings, 1 have illustrated acrate similar in all respects to the crate previously described, withthe exception that in this exemplification of my invention the T- shapedslots 5 formed in the female members are positioned with the stems 5'ofthe slots extending horizontally. The male series of bars 3 are inthis instance formed with companion pairs of notches 66, whereby acenter stem or core is developed in the male bars. my invention, themale bars are designed to be normally held fiatwise or in horizontalposition, while the female bars are vertically or edgewise positioned.Hence, in assembling a structure of this character the male bars areinwardly threaded through the slots of the female bars in an edgewiseposition, as shown in Figure 8 of the drawings, and thereafter the barsare twisted or turned downwardly, as indicated by the arrow in Figure 8,to assume a flat position, as shown in Figures 5 to 7, inclusive, of theillustration, in which flat position the male bars are held by theircorrespondingly positioned sockets. However,

vafter the two series of bars are secured,

they are rigidly locked against movement in all directions, due to theinterlocking engagement between the notches and T- shaped slots at thecorners of each pocket.

The bottle, or other articles, rest upon and are supported by a seriesof heavy wire rods 0 which are usual in the construction of crates ofthis general type, it being understood that these supporting rods 0 and0, referred to in describing the above forms of my invention, extendthrough apertures in the lower tier of the female bar, as best shown inFigures 2 and 6 of the drawings.

While I have shown and described my invention specifically as todetails, it is understood that I may vary the structural In thismodification of features without departing from the spirit of theinvention, and as defined in the appended claim.

I claim A crate having side walls, a series of female bars positionededgewise with relation to the side walls and provided with flshapedslots with the crossed portion of the slot relatively long and thelaterally ext-ending portion relatively short and of rectangularcontour, means for securing the female bars to the side walls, a seriesof thin fiat male bars having notched portions therein leaving aconnecting Web at the notched portion of rectangular contour adapted tofit the laterally extending rectangular portions of the slots in thefemale bars, the said male bars being adaptedvto be threaded through theslots of the female bars in a flatwise position and turned about theirlongitudinal axis to position the con necting Web at their notcheswithin the rectangular transverse portions of the slots in the femalemember, the width of the web at each notch holding the web portions inintimate engagement with the tranverse portion of the slot to provide abearing on opposite sides of the web portion throughout a materialdistance, and means for securing the end walls to the side Walls and tothe male members.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand atMilwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State of Wisconsin.

WILLIAM C. KRAUSE,

